


proof of patience

by Chocchi



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Beards (Facial Hair), Established Relationship, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Shaving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26297173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chocchi/pseuds/Chocchi
Summary: In which Flynn grows a beard, and Yuri tries really hard to be a good boyfriend, even when he's tired. Flynn tries... a little less hard.
Relationships: Yuri Lowell/Flynn Scifo
Comments: 10
Kudos: 97





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this whole thing in one terrible day where my brain would not let me do anything else, and then i waited while my dear friends who weren't possessed by some bizarre writing demon and had real people things to do beta-read it for me over the next few days. so i have been assured it does not read like the fever dream it felt like?? thank you [tenma](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sityaran) and [jude](https://archiveofourown.org/users/foolishguniw/profile) as usual. i apologize that i am Like This  
> comments, concrit and feedback are always deeply appreciated!!

Yuri climbs in through Flynn's win dow just after dawn, and Flynn is nowhere to be seen. Shit. Yuri is on a healthy distraction mission. He was hoping he'd have time to ambush Flynn before he got started on his day.

"That dumbass better not be working at this hour," he says to himself, swinging his legs in from the windowsill to climb fully into the room.

"The dumbass is in the bathroom," Flynn calls, muffled through the door. Oh. Oops.

"Cool, thanks. I'll wait out here. Snoop through your stuff."

"You can come in," Flynn says. "I'm just about to shave."

"Shave away the hours of your youth?" Yuri opens the bathroom door enough to peek inside. Flynn, standing in front of the mirror, glances over to give him an indulgent smile that Yuri is going to stubbornly pretend does nothing to his heart, thank you very much. The contents of his shaving kit are spread haphazardly across the countertop. "Why are you shaving at dawn?"

"So I don't turn up at my morning meeting looking disheveled," Flynn says. He goes back to arranging his shaving setup. Yuri slips fully into the bathroom, closing the door behind himself, and hops up to sit on a clear space of counter. It leaves him in arm's reach of Flynn. He exercises this ability by reaching up to pat Flynn's jaw and scratch his fingernails through the short, stiff hair. Flynn's eyelashes flutter closed as he leans into the touch. "Mm. That's nice."

"You've missed a few days," Yuri says. Probably more like a week, at least. He doesn't like that, less because of how Flynn looks and more because... well. If Flynn isn't even finding the time to shave, what else is he skipping? "Busy, are you?"

Flynn cracks an eye open. "Did Hanks send you to yell at me again?"

"He didn't send me, but he might have tipped me off that you've been working too hard."

Flynn puts his shaving soap to the side; his arrangement is completed now, but instead of starting his shave, he turns to Yuri. He strokes his knuckles along Yuri's cheek. "Hanks knows damn well what he's doing when he makes you worry about me. Don't make excuses for him."

"Grouchy," Yuri murmurs. He lets his own hand fall from Flynn's face. "Who's worried? Not me."

Flynn makes the same soft, amused sound he always makes when Yuri tries to deflect accusations that he cares. He rubs a thumb over Yuri's cheekbone. "So you climbed through my window at dawn to check up on me for completely non-worried reasons?"

"Check up on you? Psh," Yuri says. He kicks out a leg, hooking it around the back of Flynn's thigh to try to pull him closer. "Nah. I'm just here to catch you alone so we can fool around. Totally for my own benefit."

"Uh-huh," Flynn says, unimpressed. He lets Yuri's heel drag uselessly across the back of his thigh, unmoved. "At dawn."

"I would say I just know what I'm dealing with, but I did actually think you'd be in bed for at least a little longer. So really you're even worse than I was accounting for."

"I've got a long day today," Flynn says. "I wanted to get a head start on it."

"When's your meeting?"

"...Eight. But I wanted to meet with the Captains before we—"

"At what time?"

"Seven thirty."

"You need two hours to shave?"

"Like you know anything about how long it takes to shave," Flynn huffs. He pinches Yuri's smooth cheek. "Babyface."

Yuri mock-snaps at his fingers. Flynn snatches his hand back. "Don't be jealous just because I don't need to worry about accidentally slitting my own throat."

"Those of us who are actually capable of patience don't have to worry about that," Flynn counters. Fucking _finally_ , he leans in to give Yuri a gentle, chaste kiss on the mouth. Yuri closes his eyes as he presses back into it.

"Can be patient," he mumbles, against Flynn's lips. Flynn huffs a disbelieving laugh.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mm-hm."

"In that case," Flynn says, pulling back—when Yuri blinks his eyes back open, he's smirking. "You can wait until I'm done shaving to have your fun."

Yuri groans over-dramatically in defeat, letting himself slump back against the wall. He doesn't mind that much, really. He _is_ tired from getting up for this. He wishes Flynn wasn't up so damn early, burning the candle at both ends, but he's definitely not about to go back to sleep now, so there's not much Yuri can do about that one. And Flynn saying he has to wait to have his fun is as good as a promise that he _will_ be having his fun, which means Yuri can hack out whatever chunk of time before his meeting Flynn would have spent rereading every report under the sun that was even tangentially relevant. That's Yuri's time, now. He can force Flynn to relax for a few minutes.

Anyway, it's not all that bad to wait quietly in Flynn's space while he shaves. It's peaceful, and his soap and aftershave smell nice, and at least Flynn is doing something to take care of himself. Yuri won't admit it out loud, but he likes the slivers of domesticity they manage to wring out of their busy lives. He basks in Flynn's proximity, watching as he rinses and lathers his face. He might zone out a little. He doesn't think he dozes off; his eyes are open and he's awake. That's how he can appreciate the moment, after all. Aside from their breathing, the only sound is the splash of water whenever Flynn rinses the razor between strokes.

"Maybe I should just grow it out," Flynn says, thoughtfully, as he drags the razor along the curve of his jaw. Yuri's not really listening, nodding along as he watches the lather and stubble disappear and leave smooth, soft skin in their wake. "Not have to deal with shaving for a while. That might be more convenient."

Yuri makes an absentminded sound of agreement. After a second, his brain kicks back into gear, and he frowns. "Pretty sure people with beards still have to do some grooming."

"Hm. I suppose it depends on the look you're going for."

"Well, I'm pretty sure people with beards who want to look _reputable_ have to do some grooming, oh great Commandant."

Flynn grins as he pauses to rinse his razor again. "I don't know, some people are into rugged beards, aren't they?"

Is he actually considering this?

"Are you serious?"

"Not about not grooming," Flynn says. He still has a faint smile as he resumes shaving. He's almost done with one side. "I might be serious about the beard. What's your opinion?"

" _My_ opinion?"

"Yeah. Do you think it would be an improvement?"

What would Flynn look like with a beard? He never tried growing out his facial hair when they were teenagers, or ever, that Yuri knows of. The short fuzz he's shaving off right now is about as long as Yuri's ever seen on him. How would a full beard look? Would it be the lighter blond hair that's on the top of Flynn's head, or the dark gold of his eyelashes? How would it change the shape of his face? That probably depends on the style he would wear it in... Why would Flynn want to grow a beard? Is this another attempt to present himself as mature, as a young man in a position of high authority? Did Finath have a beard when they were kids and Yuri's just forgotten about it? At least if he had, Yuri would have some frame of reference for how it would look on Flynn. But no, he realizes abruptly, he doesn't actually want to think about Flynn's dad when he's trying to decide whether Flynn would look hot with a beard; that's no good at all.

Scrambling for a safe answer, Yuri manages, "I like your face just fine the way it is."

Flynn blinks, then beams at him and ducks close unexpectedly to rub his nose against Yuri's. Yuri's startled inhale gets him a mouthful of lather from the side Flynn hasn't shaved yet. "Aww, Yuri. That's sweet."

"Flynn—Flynn, _ew—"_ Yuri splutters, shoving him away and leaning across the counter to spit in the sink. Turns out the mouthfeel and flavor of soap has not improved since Hanks washed out his mouth for swearing when he was a kid. " _Bleh—_ you got soap in my mouth! Gross."

When Yuri glances up again, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Flynn looks entirely too entertained. "I like your face the way it is, too."

"I like your face a lot fucking less right now," Yuri grumbles, retreating back to his corner of the counter with a scowl. "Jerk."

"Just trying to liven things up for you. I thought you were starting to look a little bored."

"Getting soap in my mouth is not a cure for boredom!" And he wasn't bored in the first place, but he's not about to tell Flynn he's content just to be enjoying his company.

"Seemed exciting to me."

"I'm leaving," Yuri complains, and makes no move to go anywhere at all. Flynn laughs and brings the razor back to his face. "You don't deserve my intervention."

"For my work habits or for the beard?"

"Grow a beard if you want a damned beard. You don't need my permission. It's your face."

"You're the one who has to kiss this face, though."

"I don't have to," Yuri says, and has no fucking idea whether he means that as a threat or a reassurance. Both, possibly. "And your dashing good looks don't hurt, but they aren't the primary reason I do it, so do what you want."

Flynn makes a face that suggests he wants to shower Yuri with more affection for that one, but he restrains himself. Thank the gods. Yuri doesn't want another mouthful of soap. He leans back against the wall and tries to ignore the faint aftertaste in his mouth as Flynn steadily shaves the other side of his face. At least he's not in danger of dozing off again. He feels fully awake now.

Finally, Flynn ducks down to thoroughly rinse away the last of the lather. Face still dripping into the sink, he reaches over to nudge Yuri without looking. "Pass me a towel?"

Yuri passes him the towel. Flynn carefully pats his face dry, and the next time he reaches over to nudge Yuri, Yuri shoves a new towelette into his hand before he can make contact. Flynn snorts fondly as he covers the bottle of aftershave with it and tips some out to soak into the fabric.

"Sure you aren't impatient?"

"I'm just being efficient," Yuri says, reasonably. "I already knew what you were going to do next. Why bother waiting for you to ask for it?"

"You've never been efficient a day in your life," Flynn says, wiping his jaw with the aftershave in easy, practiced motions. Then, in a spectacularly low blow, he says, "I mean, remember when you tried to fix the plumbing for the Lower Quarter?"

"Shut up, geez." Yuri kicks him, lightly. Like the ordeal with the aque blastia even counts. "I can't believe I got up early for you to be mean to me."

"I know. You could've just as easily waited until evening for me to be mean to you." Flynn tidies away the components of his shaving kit quickly, then sets it aside to give Yuri his full attention. As he leans in, he murmurs, "Glad you didn't, though."

"Oh?"

"Mm. Great start to my morning." He eases Yuri into a slow kiss, drawing back just enough to add, "Much nicer than shaving alone."

"I can think of some other more interesting ways to spend your morning than shaving alone," Yuri says, and when he hops down from the counter to pull Flynn back into the bedroom, Flynn follows easily.

Yuri's got other things to think about after that, and he forgets all about most of the conversation. Why would he remember it? He and Flynn say all kinds of nonsense to each other as banter. It's not like it will come up again, right?


	2. Chapter 2

They go through periods where they don't get to see each other for a while. Yuri tries to spend a few days out of every month in Zaphias, and Flynn tries to swing through Dahngrest or Aurnion at least every two, but sometimes they can't make it work. Flynn's the Commandant, after all. There's plenty to keep him busy, politics and bureaucracy and training and fieldwork, even when he's not working himself into the grave. Yuri's work with Brave Vesperia isn't so constantly grinding, but there's waves of intensity. Sometimes it's just job after job after job. No chance for cross-continental travel when that happens.

Usually it's not as bad as when Flynn was climbing the ranks of the Knights, where Yuri wouldn't see him for six months at a time (and then they'd fight when he did), but—it gets close, this time. Four months. The first two, Yuri's visits to Zaphias are poorly timed, with Flynn caught up in political negotiations. Yuri has to leave again for Brave Vesperia's missions before he's done. The third month, Flynn sends his apologies that he won't be able to make it out to Dahngrest after all because of a corruption case in New Aspio. The fourth month finds Yuri on a whirlwind set of errands around the world with the guild, trying to track something down for a client with more money than sense. By the time they wrap it up, everyone is crabby and fatigued, and—with Karol's assurances that the guild treasury is currently bursting at the seams—ready for an extended break. The only reason they made it back to Dahngrest was because they had to to make the final delivery. Yuri would have been perfectly happy to crash at the nearest inn, otherwise, and he knows he's not the only one.

"Go see your man," Judy tells Yuri. She's trying to sound authoritative, but she's half-melted into the common room's couch and her words slur together with exhaustion. Patty and Karol staggered off to bed ages ago. They all need some rest. Yuri resents that he's got more traveling ahead of him if he wants to visit Flynn. "You're driving us all up the wall pining for him."

"I'm going to sleep first," Yuri says, too weary to protest her assessment. He _is_ missing Flynn, and he knows he hasn't been doing a very good job of hiding it. Especially not as this last job dragged on and on. "I'll leave in the morning."

He'll sleep off the worst of this, and whenever he wakes up tomorrow, he'll drag himself across the stupid world again to find Flynn. Ugh. He hopes that asshole appreciates what Yuri goes through for him.

He fully intends to sleep as long as his body will let him, but instead he's woken in the early morning by the insistent chirping of birds directly outside his window. Right. Of course. The guild has been so busy that nobody was around to chase the damn things away before they set up their nests, and now Yuri has a window-box full of fledgelings instead of spring flowers. He drags himself down to the kitchen, where the others have already draped themselves around the table, looking equally miserable. Ah. They got everyone's windows, then. They all exchange commiserating nods. He pours himself a cup of coffee and slumps down at a seat, half-lying on the table. For several long minutes he does nothing. Karol makes a snuffling noise that Yuri suspects is half-snore. He wonders if they're all just going to fall asleep here, down where the damn birds aren't.

Someone knocks at the door. They all look up at it, then each other, in horror. For a moment, they're all too stupefied by the very idea of interacting with a client to do anything. Then the knock comes again. Yuri starts to push his upper body off the surface of the table.

"Brave Vesperia isn't taking any jobs today," Karol calls, obviously trying to inject some pep into his voice that he doesn't truly have the heart for. "Sorry! I'm afraid you'll have to—"

"That's alright," a familiar voice says. The door swings open. "I'm actually just here to visit. Is Yuri in?"

"Flynn!" Yuri jerks upright, shaking the table and almost knocking his stool over in his haste. The mugs of coffee slosh dangerously. Judy makes a sound of warning as she stabilizes hers. "You're..." He trails off, staring in disbelief. "Here...?"

Yuri would recognize Flynn's voice half-conscious, blindfolded, and delirious. There's no chance in hell that he's wrong that it's Flynn. But for a terrifying moment, he thinks he might be. The man in their doorway has the right hair and eyes, even the right nose, but the shape of his face is—well, Yuri can't tell if the shape of his face is wrong, because it's obscured by thick blond hair.

Flynn has a beard. Not an _oops, I've been too busy to shave_ accident with a week or two's growth. No, this is a real, groomed facial hair feature. He's _maintained_ it. It's an actual work in progress. It's long enough that he might've started it right after Yuri last saw him. 

"That's. New," Yuri says, faintly. Shit. It is _not_ a good look for him. Fuck. Oh, he hates it. He hates it so much. He's _way_ too tired to be dealing with this right now.

"New," Judy says, dubiously. She is also staring at Flynn's face. So are Patty and Karol. They're all staring at Flynn's face, so at least Yuri is together with everyone else and not alone in this terrible moment. "Yes. It certainly is."

"I thought I'd grow it out," Flynn says, cheerfully, as he lets himself in. He kicks off his boots and leaves them on the shelf by the door, familiar with their household system. "For a change of pace. You know, after that conversation we had the last time we saw each other."

Three heads whip around to stare at Yuri instead. Yuri can't for the life of him conceive of an expression that will read as _this is fine and I support what makes you happy_ to Flynn but _I had nothing to do with this and I'm as horrified as you all are_ to the rest of his guild. He stays frozen, face a blank mask of neutrality.

"Well!" Patty says, loudly. "It is _so_ nice to see you again, Flynn. We actually just got back last night. What great timing on your part! Except I think Yuri is too tired to have the big romantic reunion you two want in front of the rest of us, so maybe you should take him to his room."

Flynn's expression softens, which Yuri can only tell by his eyes, because he can barely see the twist of his mouth under the awful beard. "Oh, of course. Yuri, here—"

He offers Yuri his arm. Yuri takes it and is halfway-pulled out of his chair, stumbling against Flynn. He _smells_ like Flynn, Flynn's bodywash and shampoo, and the grip of his hand is the same, and while he's looking at Flynn's eyes, all of the factors add up right for his brain to go _yes, good, Flynn, kiss him hello._ Then his gaze slides down to Flynn's mouth-area and his brain goes _oh no. Maybe not._

"I'm sorry," Flynn is saying, as he guides Yuri back toward the stairs. He can feel three pairs of eyes boring into their backs as they start to ascend. The furious gossip about Flynn's new look is going to start the second they're out of earshot. It's why Patty kicked them out. "From your last letter, I thought you were expecting to get back earlier in the week. I didn't mean to ambush you while you were still wiped out from your job."

"It took longer than expected," Yuri says. Complaining about the job, at least, is solid ground. He knows how to have _that_ conversation. He trudges up the stairs as fast as he can force his body to move. "You know how it is. There's always one last thing to take care of, right when you think it should be done."

"All wrapped up now, though?"

"Yeah, thank fuck."

"Everybody's alright?"

"Yeah. We're just tired." On cue, Yuri yawns. Flynn opens his bedroom door and they shuffle inside. "Repede's better off, I guess, but he wandered off to do Repede things last night. He's somewhere around town."

"That sounds about right."

They pause in the center of the room. Usually, at this point in their reunion, Yuri would be damn near tackling Flynn onto the bed, but this morning his body nearly aches with exhaustion. He's not convinced he would have the energy to mess around even if he _wasn't_ repulsed by Flynn's new beard.

Yuri feels bad immediately after he thinks it, the past few minutes of internalized outrage beginning to fade as he wakes up more. Flynn's obviously been working on the beard for a while, so he must like it. Didn't Yuri tell him to do what he wanted? And apparently this is what he wants. Yuri's just going to have to suck it up.

Even though it's the worst look he's ever seen Flynn try to pull off.

"I missed you," he admits, after another beat where they just look at each other. Flynn smiles, his eyes crinkling up with it. See? _That's_ the same. Same old Flynn. Yuri can do this.

"I didn't even have to say it first this time." Yuri narrows his eyes. Quickly, Flynn adds, "I missed you, too, of course."

"Well, good." Yuri drifts a few steps closer to him. He forces himself to take another solid look at the beard. "You, ah. You weren't joking about the beard last time, huh."

"Mm. Well. To be honest, I was at the time, but..." Flynn shrugs. "I skipped shaving again for a few weeks after that because I was so busy, and then I thought... why not? Why not at least try it?"

Yuri is looking right at the evidence for _why not_.

"Really, though. What do you think?" Flynn radiates nothing but perfect, wide-eyed sincerity as he reaches up to rub a hand over his beard. "Do you like it?"

"I—" Yuri considers his options. None of them are appealing. Eventually, carefully, he says, "Sure."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." He doesn't, but he'll learn to, if the damn thing makes Flynn happy.

"Your expression when you saw me earlier, though..."

Ah, hell.

"I mean. Honestly, I didn't recognize you for a hot second. It's... different."

"Good different?"

Why must he insist on making Yuri say something positive about the atrocity on his face? "I... sure. I'll get there."

He didn't mean to say that last part out loud. Flynn's expression wavers. Yuri experiences a split-second of acute panic before Flynn bursts into full-throated laughter, and the relief is so sweet that Yuri almost forgets to be indignant.

"What are you laughing at?!"

"You," Flynn wheezes. He catches Yuri by the shoulders and topples them both over onto the bed. Yuri yelps as they hit the mattress. "Oh, Yuri. I love you so much, you know that?"

"Shut up," Yuri says automatically, flustered, scrambling to orient to their new position even as Flynn braces himself over Yuri on his knees and elbows. "What did I do? What did _you_ do?"

"You're just—" Flynn laughs again, ducking down to kiss him. It's not the most sensual kiss in the world, both because Flynn keeps giggling into it and because Yuri almost flinches away when Flynn's whiskers brush his face. "You're trying so hard to be supportive."

"Wh—" Yuri can feel heat flare across his cheeks, leaving him red-faced. He's Flynn's boyfriend, it's his freaking job to be supportive, what is he talking about? "Am I not supposed to be?!"

"You hate it," Flynn adds, confidently. "Don't you?"

"I—I'll get used to it, I just—it's a big change, Flynn, I get to be a little weirded out at first!" Flynn laughs harder. Yuri grabs one of his shoulders and shakes him a little. "Knock it off already!"

"I thought for sure you were going to tell me to get rid of it on the spot when I showed up."

Yuri's brain short-circuits. "I get to do that?!"

Flynn collapses to the side of him on the bed, throwing his head back against the pillows to laugh some more. "I would, if I was you!"

"Wha—then why are you still growing the damn thing?!"

"For that look on your face _,_ " Flynn says, grinning broadly. He pats Yuri on the cheek. "Priceless."

Several things click into place for Yuri all at once. Here he is, bone-tired, trying to be a good boyfriend, and Flynn is— "Did you grow a beard for four fucking months just to prank me?!"

"Yes. And it was one hundred and ten percent worth it."

"Four _months!_ "

"Well, it's not like I put any effort into growing the hair. And keeping it neat _is_ less effort than shaving." He gives Yuri another whiskery kiss. Yuri forces himself to stay put, even though it's weird as hell. It's not how kissing Flynn usually feels. He wasn't lying when he told Flynn he would get used to it, if he had to, but he hopes he doesn't have to. It's somewhere between tickling and itching right now. "And incidentally, the aristocracy approves of it."

"I should tell you to shave it on that principle alone," Yuri mutters. "What do they approve of about it?"

"It makes me look more dignified, apparently."

"I have never respected your dignity less."

"I don't think that's true, but maybe that's just because of how low that bar goes." Flynn snickers again. Yuri smacks him lightly on the arm. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I really didn't expect you to try so hard to be supportive about it. _Phew_. Oh, geez."

"This is why I'm always a bastard to you," Yuri says. In that moment, it feels true. "Because this is what you do to me when I'm nice. For fuck's sake, Flynn."

Even as he starts to settle down, Flynn grins widely. "You make it so much fun."

"It's not even like I told you I would hate it."

"No, but you weren't exactly thrilled by the idea, either." Flynn stretches out a little, rolling over to throw an arm across Yuri's waist. Yuri begrudgingly allows it. "To tell you the truth... you remember when I lived with my aunt for a while, as a child?"

"Vaguely." It had been a brief blip in their history, and they had both been pretty young.

"She told me this story, once, about how my dad tried to grow facial hair when he was courting my mom and it looked absolutely terrible. My mom almost dumped him over it. I suppose she meant it as a cautionary tale, so I wouldn't try to grow facial hair when I grew up. So I was thinking about that when I made the joke, and I hadn't really considered that you didn't have that context until you treated it like a serious question. And then I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see the look on your face if it was really that bad."

"Just to be clear," Yuri says, exasperatedly. "Your aunt told you not to grow a beard, because your family's facial structure sucks for it and it would look so bad that you would run off your lover, so you decided to do it anyway specifically to spite your lover."

"It wasn't spite," Flynn protests. He tries to lean in to kiss Yuri on the cheek. Yuri shoves him back. "All in good fun."

"You're an enormous asshole."

"You did technically give me permission." Flynn gives him an imploring look. "I didn't expect you to try to pretend it looked good, I swear. It wasn't meant to be a test of love or anything. I really thought you would just tell me how much it sucked and I would shave it and we would move on."

"So you _are_ going to get rid of it?"

"Of course."

Yuri drops his head back against the mattress and heaves out a relieved sigh, eyes closing. Flynn laughs again. This time, Yuri doesn't push him away when he feels Flynn shift beside him to lean in for a kiss.

"You really are a sweetheart," Flynn murmurs. Yuri keeps his eyes squeezed closed, feeling himself start to flush again. "Meant it when you said you weren't just dating me for my looks, huh?"

"Changed my mind now," Yuri grumbles. "Not a test of love, my ass."

"It wasn't! Why would I have any reason to believe you wouldn't just tell me? You always tell me when I do anything else you think is stupid."

"I'm going to take a nap," Yuri says, firmly, cracking his eyes back open to glare. "And if you want anything to happen after my nap, you'll use that time to shave, because I draw the line at beard burn."

"You're not gonna keep me company while I shave?" Flynn makes puppy eyes at him again. "It was nice having you around last time."

"Yeah, and look where that got me."

"In bed with your best beloved?"

"Try again."

"I'll go shave it right away if you tell me you love me," Flynn says, solemn tone belied by his smirk. And Yuri knows—Yuri knows, this time, that it really isn't a test of love, that if he doesn't say it Flynn will tease him for another minute or two and then get up to do it anyway. He knows Flynn expects him to huff, bop him with a pillow or something, and tell him to get lost. He almost certainly doesn't expect Yuri to do it. Yuri doesn't say it often, after all. That's the whole joke.

But he did miss the godsforsaken idiot, and he does desperately want the damn beard gone, so he props himself up on one elbow, leans down to kiss Flynn on the cheek, and says, "I love you. Go fucking shave."

Flynn gapes at him. Then he laughs, delighted, plants one last too-bushy kiss on Yuri's mouth, and hops out of bed. "Alright, alright. I'm going. Have a good nap."

"I will, knowing that monstrosity will be gone soon," Yuri says, rolling over to steal his warm spot. Flynn pauses in the doorway, watching him.

"Yuri."

"Hm?"

"I love you, too."

He smiles, sweetly, then ducks out of the room. Yuri burrows into the pillows as though he can hide his mortifyingly red cheeks from himself.

He'll be glad to see that smile again without the stupid beard in the way.


End file.
